Lux Liberum
by MysticalArchAngel
Summary: When she is shot by her younger sister, Wynonna Earp, the Heir, dies. After the death of Abby Mills, Crane ventures to different cities looking for paranormal activity, stumbling across Purgatory. Hell is unleashed upon Earth. But when he discovers the true meaning of the recent supernatural activity, Crane realizes humanity is doomed. Can the Earps and Crane avert the end?
1. Mortem

„ _How art thou fallen from heaven_

 _O Lucifer, who didst rise in the_

 _How art thou fallen to the_

 _That didst wound the nations?_ _"_

Isaiah, 14:12 _  
_

 _ **LUX LIBERUM**_

 **CHAPTER 1 - "MORTEM"**

"Are you ready?", the younger Earp asked with a friendly, caring voice.

"I'm ready for anything!", Wynonna, the Heir, answered.

However, before she could continue speaking, Waverly quickly pulled out her gun and coldly shot at her older sibling, without any regrets or second thoughts. The sound of the gunshot reverberated through the terrifying woods, scaring nearby individuals off. Doc Holliday couldn't react. Both him and the wounded Wynonna required a few seconds to process the recent happenings and come out with a rational response.

But there wasn't one. Wynonna was **shot** by her sister, her **own** blood! Doc, on the other hand, managed to surmount the immediate shock and retaliate to Waverly's doing.

"Wha-? What the hell? Are you crazy, Earp?!"

Waverly's eyes turned pitch black, clearly indicating that she was possessed by an otherworldly entity - a demon, to be more exact. Before the younger Earp could fire another shot, Doc quickly put her down and threw the gun away, in an attempt to immobilize her.

"GAH!", Wynonna screamed in agony. Blood was quickly exiting the severed blood vessels, rendering her closer and closer to being unconscious.

Heavily angered by Wynonna's current state, Doc attempted to shoot the younger Earp with the Peacemaker. However, he couldn't. Only the heir could, and she wasn't in the condition of attempting such a task.

"Get out of her, whatever you are!", Doc yelled at the entity inhabiting Waverly

"Ille venturus est, ille venturus est!", the demon was mumbling, convulsing on the ground like a rabid dog. Seconds thereafter, a black cloud-like formation aggressively exited Waverly's body, followed by it vanishing into nothingness.

"Ma-may... maybe it-it's t-time t-to... call an am-ambulance," Wynonna effortfully told Doc.

"Right!", Doc said alarmingly. He searched for Wynonna's phone, quickly finding it in the woman's pocked. The problem was that he didn't know how to dial any number on a smartphone. Noticing Doc's clueless expression, Wynonna forced herself to formulate an explaining sentence.

"J-just touch 9-1-1 and- a short pause followed by a bloody cough - t-then to-touch th-the green b-button..."

Surprisingly, Holliday was able to dial 911 without further explanation or help, even though he was completely unfamiliar with smartphones - or any kind of phones for that matter.

"Hello," a strange voice answered his call.

"Hello, we need an ambulance right now!", Doc told the woman.

"What is your location, sir?" the woman asked.

"M-my location? I-uh..."

"No problems, we can track down your phone through satellite and quickly learn your location." After ten seconds of pause, the woman continued: "Done. An ambulance will be arriving shortly. The ETA is 10 minutes."

"Th-thank you, miss... uh-"

"You're welcome! Good bye," the woman said, interrupting Doc before he could finish his thanking sentence."

Seeing Wynonna's condition aggravating, Doc tried to keep her awake:

"Don't you dare die on me, Earp!"

"I-…", Wynonna tried to make out a couple of words to no avail.

Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived. The oldest living Earp is resuscitated back to relative stability. Even so, the danger of dying was not quite passed yet.

"You're gonna be fine, you're-", Doc said, before realizing that Wynonna had her eyes closed.

"N-no! No, no, no, no! You can't-… PHYSICIAN! She's dying! DO SOMETHING!" Doc said.

The paramedic came to check Wynonna's status, apparently ignoring Doc's use of the word "physician".

"She's fine, sir," the doctor said, "it's only natural that she's unconscious, she's lost a lotta blood-"

"Can't this thing go any faster?", Doc yelled at the driver.

"I'm sorry, sir, we're already at 110 mph. This as fast as we can go without killing ourselves in the process," the driver gently affirmed.

Doc was completely exasperated. He couldn't even imagine the pain Wynonna's death would bring upon him.

"God… if you're up there… just fix her, please… please," Doc mumbled to himself.

"We're here," the paramedic said.

Four minutes later, Wynonna was already in surgery. Doc was restlessly waiting for her by the door. After another three minutes of pure emotional despair, the door slowly opened and a man came out.

"Phy- doctor, how's she? Is she alive?", Doc said, quickly rushing towards the man.

"I'm sorry, sir, Mrs. Earp…"

"No…"

"She's dead. I'm sorry."

* * *

 **Next time on _Lux Liberum_ :**

 **CHAPTER 2 - "ADFLICTIO"**

 _"It's **my** fault! I was-," Waverly said, before bursting into tears._

 _"It's not your fault, Earp. All we can do now is avenge her."_

 _The room changed. She suddenly found herself surrounded by pitch black._

 _"It's time… Wynonna," said the mysterious man._

 _"But ho- who are- wait!", Wynonna asked the elder man, before he disappeared into nothingness._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

So, this is the first chapter! It's much shorter that what usual chapters will be like.

Please review. Although I already have a plan for the first arc and much of the story is already (semi-)set in stone, I'm still open(ish) to suggestions! Also, I'd like to see how well the first chapter was received. I really hope you liked it! :)


	2. Adflictio

„ _Multas per gentes et multa per aequora uectus_

 _Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,_

 _Vt te postremo donarem munere mortis_

 _Et mutam nequiquam adloquerer cinerem,_

 _Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum_ _"_

Catullus 101, Gaius Valerius Catullus

 _ **LUX LIBERUM**_

 **CHAPTER 2 - ADFLICTIO**

"She's dead. I'm sorry," the doctor's words reverberated across the hall. Doc's eyes widened, as paralysis quickly won him over. Sadness quickly conquered his every thought…

Or was it rage?

He grabbed the doctor by his neck and threw him against the wall. All nearby people ran off, only a few tried to resolve the situation.

"She **cannot** be dead! You hear me? Go there and do your **fucking** job!" Doc aggressively yelled.

"Let… me… go," the doctor struggled, in an attempt to convince the taller man to let him go.

"Pl-please, I," the doctor effortfully continued.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing, fella?" a tall, blonde man asked an enraged Doc. "Let him go, you psycho!"

"Stay out of this!" Doc yelled.

"And let you kill him? Like hell I am," the man said, followed by him punching Doc in the face. Surprised by the man's action, Doc fell back about a meter or two, letting the nearly unconscious doctor go.

"I told you to **fucking** stay away," an even more angered Doc said, retaliating to the punch with one of his own in the stomach.

"Ah!", the man screamed in pain. "W-what the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's **his** fault! She **died** because of him!"

"I-I… I tried to s-save her, but I couldn't," the terrified doctor told the man.

"Look, it's no one's fault that she's-," the man said, before being aggressively interrupted by Doc:

"Don't you **dare** say it!"

"Point is, it's not his fault. It's no one's fault"

"Oh, it is someone's fault alright," Doc said, "and I'm going to find him, and when I do, I will **avenge** her.

* * *

Crane was driving along the interstate. Now that Abbie's gone, he must continue her legacy, which meant fighting the supernatural. Ever since she'd died, he's been in a pretty rough shape. Until now. Now, he's over it, he's moved on.

Or so he thought.

Recently, he'd heard of a town where dead people came back to life as literal demons, and the only way they could be killed was with a special gun. "What kind of gun?" he was thinking. If it could kill demons, then it must be special, right? So, how come he'd never heard of it before? These questions were eating him from the inside. But he was going to answer them. Soon.

Very soon.

"Still one three hundred and fifty miles to go," he told himself. "Purgatory? The name must be ironical. But why name a town after an infernal realm adjacent to Hell?"

The name was strange, but the place itself was even stranger. And he was going to find that out soon enough.

* * *

Doc's world collapsed. There was nothing but blackness, sadness, … rage. Wynonna was dead and he couldn't do anything about it. How does one continue fighting, when all that's worth fighting for is no more?

You don't. Or so he thought.

Back home, Waverly had nearly cried herself to sleep. "How could I?", "It's my fault". These were the words that conquered her. She had shot her sister - and unbeknownst to her – to death.

Just before falling asleep, she saw a car arriving home. "It must be Doc," she thought. Hoping he would bring good news, Waverly rushed out to him.

"She's alright, isn't she?" Waverly anxiously asked. "Come on, Doc, tell me. Is she awake already? Can we visit her?"

Question after question, Doc was feeling even more powerless.

"Waverly, Wynonna …" And there it was. **That** pause, the kind that anticipates the worst happened.

"Yes, just tell me already!" she yelled. She didn't think it was possible. It was Wynonna, her elder sister and the "badass" Earp Heir they were talking about. Some bullet couldn't do anything to her…

Right?

"She is… she's dead, Waverly. I… I'm sorry," Doc told Wynonna, somewhat relieved that he had finally said it.

" _She's dead, Waverly, I'm sorry_ ," Doc's words were playing over and over again in Waverly's mind. Did she hear that right? She couldn't have. Wynona couldn't be dead. She was the Heir. The Heir can't die, can him? But she was missing one small thing…

The Heir was still human, so he was as vulnerable to guns as any other.

"I-…" Waverly attempted to formulate a sentence.

"It's **my** fault! I was-," Waverly yelled before bursting into tears. An ocean of feelings suddenly hit her: sadness, guilt… rage.

"It's not your fault, Earp," Doc tried to calm her down, "all we can do now is avenger her."

"I can't… I can't take this, Doc! It's **too** much!" Waverly said, screaming in pain.

"Y-you have to… we both have to."

* * *

After a few more hours of driving, Crane's stomach was alarming him that he needed to meet his needs.

"I guess it's time for a short stop," he told himself. Luckily, a motel with a restaurant were just a couple of meters away.

"Perfect!" he thought. He pulled over, rushing to the restaurant's door. To his surprise, it was nearly full. It was, though, the only motel in nearly fifty miles.

He searched for a free table, finding one in the back. "Good thing I didn't arrive here ten minutes from now," he told himself, relieved that he actually found a free seat in all that crowd.

He took the menu, searching for something to satisfy him.

"Let's see…" he said. "Roasted chicken with mashed potatoes… Twenty dollars?!" He nearly screamed, "that's absurd!"

For a moment, he considered leaving, but his stomach said otherwise.

"Fine. It shall be as you wish," Ichabod told his stomach, apparently.

He waited for the waiter to pass by him, after which he quickly stated his request:

"Excuse me!"

"Yes," the waiter said.

"I'd like some roasted chicken with mashed potatoes," Ichabod told the waiter.

"Would you want anything to drink?"

"Maybe some water, thank you!" Ichabod thanked the waiter.

"You're welcome, sir," the waiter responded.

"And now we wait," Ichabod thought.

* * *

After three hours of continuous crying, Waverly has finally calmed herself down. **Barely**.

"W-What do we do now?" Waverly asked.

"What we **must**. Your sister will be avenged." Doc answered.

"What was that thing? The one that was… in me." Waverly curiously asked Doc.

"By the looks of it, it must've been a demon. It also said something in Latin," Doc told Waverly.

"Do you remember what I said? I mean, what **it** said…"

"Il venturi, no, venturum, no, wait…" After a short pause, Doc continued: "Ille… ventur-"

"Ille venturus est?" Waverly asked, interrupting Doc.

"Yes, exactly," Doc answered.

"That translated to 'he is coming'… What is coming?"

"Damned if I know," Doc cluelessly said.

* * *

She found herself in a very dark room with one beam of light penetrating the darkness.

"Hello?" Wynonna asked, "hello, is someone there?"

Silence.

"Of course no one's there. Most abundant movie cliché ever," Wynonna told herself. "Where the hell am I?"

Then, she remembered. She was shot. She was **dead**.

"What kind of creepy realm is this? Even Hell is nicer. I mean, flame red suits me better than unending pitch black," Wynonna joked. "Come on, there must be someone! And where the hell is that light coming from?!"

Suddenly, the darkness faded away, and Wynonna found herself in a tall temple.

"Great, now I'm in China," the Heir said. "Whomever is changing the channels, stop! It's giving me epilepsy! Just come out of hiding and maybe we can talk like all humans do!"

Was the thing doing this human? Of course it wasn't, so why should it talk like something it isn't?

"Hello, Wynonna," an old man said. Wynonna could've swore that the man wasn't there two seconds ago.

"Hello, creepy old man," Wynonna responded. "So, are you the one playing 'Hide-and-seek' with me? Guess I've won."

"You do ironize everything, don't you?"

"I guess that's the only thing keeping me from going batshit crazy right now," Wynonna told the old man standing in front of her. "So, I'm dead, ain't I?" she asked the elder man.

"That's correct," the man said, "and I'm deeply sorry. However, all is not lost."

"It's easy for you to say that, considering you're not the one who bit the dust," the Heir responded.

"You were shot, Wynonna."

"Tell me something I don't know," Wynonna joked.

"By a demon-"

"What, you mean a Revenant? I've dealt with those before," she interrupted the old man.

"No, not a Revenant. 'Revenants', as you call them, are resurrected humans with slightly demonic features," the old man told her.

"'Slightly' is not the word I would use."

"They still have their human memories, they behave like humans, albeit mentally deranged humans. What shot you was a pure demon."

"What, like Beelzebub?" Wynona asked.

"Yes and no," the old man answered.

"Talk about being cryptic," Wynonna mumbled to herself.

"The nature of the entity that has ended your life is indeed the same as Beelzebub's, the only difference is that the demon you faced was a lowly underling, while Beelzebub could be considered… a literal 'Prince of Hell'."

"Great news so far, seriously, I'm excited, but how about you get to the part about what happens to me," Wynonna rushed the elder being.

The man took off his sunglasses. "Very well," he said.

"Wait a second, I know you! You're Juan Carlos," Wynonna told Juan.

"I was worried that you wouldn't recognize me there for a second," Juan said. "As I've told you before, **we** 're watching."

"'We'? Who's 'we'?" Wynonna asked.

Juan smiled. "I thought you would've figured that out by now... You will, in time."

After a short pause, Juan continued with a more serious tone: "Listen, Wynonna, there's an evil out there far greater that the Revenants. The Earp curse is only one very tiny piece of the puzzle."

For the first time, Wynonna took things completely seriously, speaking with a slightly deeper voice: "And what am I supposed to do about it? I'm dead, remember? I can't do **shit**!"

"That's far from the truth. You still don't know who you really are," Juan told Wynonna with a somewhat caring, gentle voice.

"I know perfectly who I am! I am Wynonna Earp, the **goddamn Heir** of this **goddamn** **curse** that's been haunting our family since the 19th century!" Wynonna yelled.

She accepted to be told many things, but for someone to say that she doesn't know who she is…

That was beyond the line, even for her.

"You're so much more than that-"

"Then why don't you tell me who I am, 'cause you seem to know that **better** than I do," Wynonna yelled at Juan, her eyes filled with rage and exasperation. She couldn't bear it anymore.

Juan smiled.

"Who the hell are you?" Wynonna mumbled.

The room changed. She suddenly found herself surrounded by pitch black. Again.

"It's time… Wynonna," said Juan.

"But ho- who are- wait!", Wynonna asked the elder man, before the disappeared into nothingness.

The room disappeared.

* * *

Wynonna slowly opened her eyes. It took her eyes' lens several seconds to focus. An almost unbearable ringing terrorized her ears.

She found herself on a table in what seemed to be an operating room. The ringing slowly faded away and her senses were back to full capacity.

"Where am I?" she asked confusedly. "Oh, I'm in the hospital. Well, at least I'm not in a coffin five feet underground," said the apparently living Heir.

"I need to find Waverly. She's probably a mess," she told herself. Surprisingly, she could walk without any pain. It's like she's been reborn…

She has.

She was dead, and now she's alive. That 'Juan' thing couldn't have been a dream, could it? No, it was as real as the hospital and the room she was in. But how will she get out of the room without alarming the doctors that dead men – or women – actually **do** come back to life.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her clothes: her bloody jacket, jeans and boots.

"Aw, how cute, they've kept my stuff," she thought.

She quickly dressed up and waited for all personnel to leave the hall the door of the operating room was leading to. Then, just like a 'ninja' would, she left the room, then the hospital. The view outside was strange, alien. She was clearly not in Purgatory anymore.

"Where the hell am I," she thought, confused. "How do I get back to Purgatory?"

Shortly thereafter, she saw a man exit a car and leave the keys in.

"Guess you won't be needing that car anymore," she thought.

Said and done. She quickly took the car and ran off towards the interstate.

"Hang on, guys, I'm coming."

* * *

"Delicious," Crane said, finally finishing his meal. After paying the twenty dollars the chicken costed, he left the restaurant almost in a hurry, much like someone was chasing him down or timing him.

"Only one hundred miles left to the mysterious town… Just several hours before I will unlock your mysteries, Purgatory," he told himself, starting up the engine and driving off towards said town.

* * *

 _ **Next time on LUX LIBERUM:**_

 **CHAPTER 3 – MYSTERIUM**

" _Who – no – what the hell are you?" Waverly furiously asked._

" _It's me, I'm serious, Wav. I'm back," Wynonna answered._

" _You… you can't be back," Waverly responded, eyes full of tears._

" _Get the hell away from her," Doc yelled._

" _Lux erit liberari!"_

" _What?" Wynonna asked, confused._

" _Did that guy say how to kill pure demons?" Doc ironically asked._

" _He forgot to mention that," Wynonna answered._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

The second chapter is HERE! Wohoo! You can see that it's much longer than the previous one. I believe the third will be even longer.

Please review this story. Pretty please? I really want to know how it is received. :)


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